Freddie Gray trial: Lt. Brian Rice found not guilty on all charges

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Well-Known Member

Baltimore Police Lt. Brian Rice was found not guilty on all charges tied to the death of Freddie Gray. Rice, the highest-ranking officer to stand trial over Gray's death, had been charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. Judge Barry Williams issued the ruling.

Rice is the fourth of the six officers charged in the case to stand trial. Earlier this year, officers Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson Jr. were acquitted on all charges in bench trials. The trial of officer William Porter ended in a mistrial in December after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the four charges against him.

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Active Member

It is my understanding that the prosecutor is aiming too high on the charges.
Maybe charging them with lesser class felonies will result in the convictions they seek?

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The officers did absolutely nothing wrong, beyond a dept. policy violation of not buckling Mr. Gray in. The arresting officers faced several charges related to false-arrest. These charges were based on the false assertion that Gray's spring-loaded knife was not illegal and the officers knew it wasn't illegal. But, spring-loaded knives are explicitly illegal under the local law.

One officer was charged with murder, accused of giving Mr. Gray a "rough ride" that caused Gray's fatal injuries. But, the Prosecution presented not one iota of evidence of a rough ride. Much of the ride was caught on video (surveillance cameras), and it was all very smooth. And, it was smooth according to all witnesses.

Six police officers were taken to court by a prosecutor who had no evidence of anything criminal, on their part. Some of the charges were minor, but the prosecution had no evidence or anything criminal. The Prosecutor should be disbarred for taking people to court without any evidence of a crime, as well as for other conduct related to the cases.

There are only two plausible explanations for Gray's injuries, and police are to blame for neither. Gray's injuries could have existed before the arrest (see the pain it looked like he was in when they were arresting him, from a cell phone video). Or, Gray, out of anger, was being violent (as claimed by another black prisoner in the van) and bashed his head into the wall of the van and had an unlucky break.

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